GAINESVILLE, Fla. – UCF jumped out to an early lead and managed to hold on late to knock off No. 4 Florida 9-6 on Wednesday night at Condron Family Ballpark.
Freshman Andrew Williamson belted out a three-run first-inning home run to give the Knights an early advantage and Dominic Castellano, Najer Victor and Kyle Kramer pitched well down the stretch to help UCF move to 9-1 on the season. The victory marks the Black and Gold’s fifth straight in the all-time series over Florida and moves the Knights to 5-1 on the year against in-state foes. It also marks UCF’s first win over a top-five ranked opponent since March 5, 2022, when it defeated then-second ranked Ole Miss 1-0 in 12 innings at home.
“It started with the preparation by Coach Lopez and Coach Tom getting the hitters ready to face their starter tonight and the guys were on it from pitch number one. We had some big hits and clutch two-out at-bats, as well as a big swing early from Williamson with two outs to get us rolling,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “Boxrucker did exactly what we thought he was going to do and then Dom Castellano was great out of the bullpen followed by Victor and Kramer. Overall, you saw some big at-bats when we needed them along with excellent defensive plays. To me this was UCF baseball on display.”
The Knights got things going right out of the gate by putting up a four-spot in the top of the first to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Andrew Brait started things off with a one-out single and Lex Boedicker promptly followed with a double to put two men in scoring position. Andrew Sundean then plated the first run of the game with an RBI groundout. With two away, the freshman Williamson then belted out his first collegiate home run with a three-run shot to right to make it 4-0.
After the Gators (8-4) got a run back in the last half of the first, UCF kept the pressure on by manufacturing a run in the second to extend its lead to 5-1. With two aboard and following a sac bunt from the Florida transfer Matt Prevesk, Brait then drove in Danny Neri from third with an RBI groundout to extend the Black and Gold’s lead to 5-1.
UF then scored two runs in the third to make it a 5-3 game, but back answered UCF with two more in the fourth to extend its advantage to 7-3. With two outs and nobody on, Mikey Kluska worked a walk. Prevesk and Brait then quickly followed with back-to-back RBI doubles to give the Knights the four-run lead. Prevesk pulled his RBI double down the rightfield line, while Brait hit his to deep right center.
The Black and Gold continued to swing a hot bat by adding two more runs in the sixth to make it 9-3. Kluska led off the frame with a single and scored the first run of the frame on a wild pitch. After Brait worked a walk and Boedicker moved him to third with a single, Sundean then drove Brait home with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Knights some insurance with a six-run cushion.
The Gators countered back with a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth thanks to a two-out two-run homer from Colby Shelton to make it 9-6.
Kramer then came on to pitch the ninth for the Knights and retired three of the four hitters he faced to earn his first save of the season.
Cade Boxrucker started on the mound for UCF and surrendered just three runs on four hits over 2.1 innings while striking out two. Castellano followed with 4.2 impressive innings to earn his second victory of the season (2-0). The UCF southpaw allowed just one run on two hits while fanning five over the strong relief outing. Najer Victor then pitched the eighth for the Black and Gold and Kramer came on to close things out by tossing a scoreless ninth.
Brait led the Black and Gold offensively by going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs while Boedicker too had a two-hit outing by going 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Williamson drove in three in the game with the three-run homer, while Sundean drove in two and Prevesk one. The reigning Perfect Game Co-Player of the Week Jac Caglianone paced UF by going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
The 9-1 start to the year for UCF is the team’s best start since 2020 when it too started with a 9-1 clip. The fifth straight win in the season series against UF also marks UCF’s longest winning streak in head-to-head matchups against the Gators. The Black and Gold are currently receiving votes for both the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll and the NCBWA Top 25 Poll.
The Knights will now head to Norman, Oklahoma, to open their inaugural season of Big 12 Conference competition this weekend. The series will run Friday to Sunday at L. Dale Mitchell Park and all three games will be streamed live on SoonerVision on ESPN+. UCF’s first home Big 12 series will then come next weekend against Oklahoma State.